


Night Owl/Morning Person

by JenniM777



Series: Keithtober 2019 [3]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Adoption, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-13
Updated: 2019-10-13
Packaged: 2020-12-14 05:14:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,406
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21010322
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JenniM777/pseuds/JenniM777
Summary: Day three of Keithtober - Night Owl/Morning PersonNot sure if this one really fits the prompts but here it is anyway.





	Night Owl/Morning Person

**Author's Note:**

> I DID NOT FORGET!!!!! I was on vacation for a week! I have been writing and trying to keep up with the prompts so there may be a stretch with several updates in a day or one or two sporadic until I'm completely back on track! Thanks for being patient with me!!!!

Lance has a cataloged list of all the things he’s learned about lance during their time as Paladins, and even some things he’s learned after. They are as follows:

  1. Keith has a massive sweet tooth. Cupcakes are his number one, but Reese’s peanut butter cups are a close second. Lance can’t argue with either one of those.
  2. Despite wearing fingerless gloves and having a mullet, Keith is very meticulous in his hygiene. Do not believe the rumors about 2-in-1 shampoo and chapped lips. Keith has been holding out and Lance was very upset to learn that Keith uses a more expensive brand of shampoo and conditioner than Lance. And his lips are most definitely not chapped. Lance can verify that from personal experience.
  3. Keith is an absolute blanket hog. Yes he’s part Galra and yes his body temperature runs a bit higher than humans which makes him a literal furnace but the boy loves a bed full of fluffy blankets. The thicker and fluffier they are, the more Keith likes them.
  4. Keith is obsessed with socks. He has a wide variety of socks which consists of cartoon characters, crazy colors, weird patterns, thick fuzzy socks, and even weird light-up Christmas socks. And don’t even get Lance started on the fact that Keith sleeps with socks on. That is a discussion for some other time.
  5. Last but not least, Keith is the type of person who stays up all hours of the night but gets up every morning at 4am for a workout and morning run. Lance on the other hand needs a full eight hours of sleep or else he’s the one being called Mr. Grumpy Pants.

The list goes on and on but for the time being, Lance is fixated on Keith’s sleeping habits. See, Lance remembers once upon a time when he was denying his feelings about a certain red paladin when said red paladin mentioned his sleeping habits. Specifically something along the lines of when his head hits the pillow its lights out. Technically that is true but Lance has found out that it comes with a price.

Lance has learned that Keith wears himself out to the point of exhaustion which is why he passes out as soon as he crawls into bed. Lance has also learned that Keith does this because he has very horrible and very vivid nightmares. It started when Keith’s dad died in a fire saving a kid the same age that Keith had been. Add to that, shitty foster homes, constantly being ragged on and bullied, losing Shiro not once but twice and almost a third time, all the horrible things they dealt with in a war, a horrific fight with a clone of his brother, and of course losing Allura…well, it’s no wonder Keith has the nightmares that he does.

But now that the war is over and most of the remaining planets are no longer in need of relief efforts, Keith has no means with which to exhaust himself and because of that, his nightmares have intensified.

So Lance has taken it upon himself to help Keith in any way possible. They have routine. Keith and Lance now both get up at 4am for a workout and morning run with Kosmo, then its home for a quick shower and then they are both out the door for seven. Lance teaches a class on the importance of intergalactic communications and Keith, well he of course is a flight instructor. After classes they head home and it’s a joint effort cooking supper and then several hours of grading tests, last minute changes to lesson plans, maybe a bit of TV and then about 9pm Lance enforces a strict policy of no technology unless it’s an emergency. The only thing allowed is soft ambient music. This is their time to wind down, to forget the stress of the day, and reconnect with each other. Lance makes sure this time together includes a lot of soft kisses and hugs. Keith never seems to mind and Lance loves how Keith will melt boneless into Lance’s arms.

It hasn’t been an easy transition but Keith has been slowly adjusting. His nightmares are less frequent and his sleep is a lot more restful, until it isn’t. But this time there isn’t a war keeping him awake or the fear of losing his brother. No, this time it’s not just Keith’s sleep that’s being disrupted but Lance’s as well.

Their lack of sleep comes in the form of an angry ten year old. Her name is Cassie and she lost both of her parents in a drunk driving accident. To top it all off the driver that killed her parents only served a minimum amount of jail time because it was considered a first offense. Add to that a round of shitty foster homes, constant bullying at school, and you can imagine how the adjustment phase was going. Needless to say it wasn’t going at all.

They tried to let Cassie have some control over what happened. For example, they let her decide if she wanted to be enrolled at the Galaxy Garrison where Keith and Lance taught or if she wanted to stay at her current school. They asked her what color she wanted to paint her room, and they asked her what types of clothes she liked. Needless to say she gave them no opinion one way or another on anything.

So for the time being, Keith and Lance let Cassie stay at her current school but decided that if the bullying started becoming a problem again, they would pull her out and enroll her at the Garrison where they could keep an eye on her. They tried to buy clothes that they thought she would like but she continued to wear what she had packed in the black garbage bag her last foster family gave her for luggage. The sheets they bought for her bed was shoved in a corner and all she slept with was a ratty baby blanket and worn out stuffed animal plushy that looked as if it had once resembled an orange tabby cat. The poor thing had been through far too much with both ears torn, a missing ear, and the tail barely hanging on.

But that wasn’t even the worst part. No, the worst part was listening to a frightened child night after night wake up from nightmares but she’s too distrustful of grown-ups to let Lance or Keith comfort her. Many nights they find themselves outside of Cassie’s room begging for her to unlock the door just so they could make sure she was okay. Most of the time they just ended up sitting side by side outside of her door offering words of comfort, soft singing, or reading until one or both of them passed out on the floor. The next morning always consisted of notes sent to Cassie’s teachers explaining that Cassie did not sleep well once again. Thankfully most of the teachers were aware of her situation and very understanding and had a system worked out for these days.

Now that they had Cassie and her sleep issues, the disruption in routine seemed to trigger Keith’s own sleep issues. Thus it was back to Keith being up at all hours of the night until he passed out. These late nights seemed to lead to more nightmares for Keith.

One such night occurred when Lance was on a weekend field-trip with a younger group of cadets to New Altea. Without Lance as a buffer to Keith’s nightmares he woke up slightly panicked, a whole lot of sweaty, and unable to go back to sleep so Keith called his brother.

“Keith? Is everything okay?”

Keith let out a sigh, “Sorry to wake you up.”

Keith hears some rustling around on the other end of the phone. He guessed Shiro was relocating so as not to disturb Curtis, “You know you can call me anytime.”

Keith pads down the hallway and stops to listen at Cassie’s door before continuing to the kitchen, “Yeah I know.”

“You wanna tell me what’s wrong or do you just need me to talk?”

Keith pulls out a pot and sets it on the stove, “Lance isn’t home.”

There’s a hum of understanding on the other end from Shiro, “Cassie have a nightmare again?”

Keith slumps against the refrigerator with the door wide open, “Not this time.”

“Do you want to talk about it?”

Keith finally pulls out the milk and closes the refrigerator door, “No I just….I needed…sorry. I just needed to hear your voice.”

“Do you need me to come over? I can come sit with you for a while. As long as you need.”

Keith takes a deep steadying breath to calm himself and get his emotions under control, “No. I’m better now. Just talking to you is enough.”

“Are you making hot chocolate?”

Keith snorts, “I am if nothing else, a creature of habit. Of course I’m making hot chocolate.”

Shiro laughs as well, “At least it’s cold enough to be considered okay and not 100 degrees in the middle of summer.”

Keith pulls a mug from the cabinet when the sound of Cassie’s door opening catches his attention. It’s around 3am and he feels a bit guilty that for once he was probably the reason she was awake and not because she had a nightmare. Although looking closer, Keith notices Cassie’s eyes rimmed with red and a bit glassy. He pulls out a second mug and fills them both up with hot chocolate and pile of miniature marshmallows. He continues his conversation with Shiro and watches in amusement as Cassie seems to be unimpressed with the marshmallows and picks them out of her drink one by one leaving a gooey mess on her saucer that her mug had been sitting on.

A loud yawn from Shiro brings Keith back to his phone conversation, “I’m feeling better now Shiro, Thanks.”

“Anytime kiddo.”

After Keith hangs up the phone he continues sipping his hot chocolate, not pushing Cassie to talk but sitting in comfortable silence. It isn’t until they are both done with their drinks and Keith is washing out their mugs that Cassie actually speaks. Her voice is shaky and she’s clearly not sure how her question is going to be received, “You had a nightmare?”

Keith keeps his back turned a makes a point to continue washing the remaining dishes from the hot chocolate, “Yea. I get them every now and then. Sorry if I woke you up.”

Cassie doesn’t acknowledge the hidden attempt that Keith makes at trying to get her to tell him why she’s actually awake. Instead she moves the conversation in a different direction and Keith lets her take control if it will keep her talking, “I didn’t know grown-ups had bad dreams.”

Keith wipes down the countertop then dries his hands. He leans against the sink with a shrug, “I don’t know about all grown-ups but I do, and I know that Lance sometimes has them as well.”

Cassie nods her head in acceptance of that answer. She picks at some black fingernail polish on her fingers. Her voice is barely a whisper, “What are your nightmares about?”

Keith pushes off from the sink and motions for Cassie to follow him into the living room. He lights the fireplace and sits in Lance’s favorite recliner while Cassie sits across from him on the sofa. Kosmo appears from the bedroom and hops up next to Cassie. Keith watches as she tucks her feet under Kosmo’s belly. Once she’s comfortable he speaks, “Did I ever tell you that I was only a little bit older than you when my dad died?”

Cassie shakes her head and Keith can tell he has her attention as wary as it seems.

“He was a firefighter and one day there was a building or a house that was on fire. I can’t remember what it was but I do know there was a kid the same age as me and he went back inside. He saved the kid but he didn’t make it out. Sometimes I dream about him in that fire just like I’m sure you dream about your parents in that car accident.”

Cassie ducks her head and lets her hand grip the soft fur at Kosmo’s neck needing something to do with her hands, “What else do you dream about?”

Keith holds back a sigh. This isn’t a conversation he wants to have with a ten year old but he will do his best to answer her questions, “Sometimes, I dream about things that happened during the war, like the time Lance got hurt or when Allura died. Sometimes like tonight I dream about some of the bad things that happened to my brother.”

Cassie turns her head, anger clearly radiating from her, “But you get to talk to him and know he’s okay.”

Keith leans forward and rests his elbows on his knees, “But I can’t talk to my dad. And I can’t talk to Allura anymore either.”

Cassie pulls her hand away from Kosmo, her small hand balls into a fist. Her voice comes out loud and accusatory, “Yeah? But at least you got someone to talk to. You got Mr. Lance. Who was I supposed to talk to when my foster dad hit me cause the orphanage didn’t pay him enough money so he could buy his beer? Who was I supposed to talk to when I got sent back because I screamed too loud when I have nightmares? And who am I supposed talk to when you get tired of me too? I got no one.”

Keith stands up and walks over to a rather large bookcase and pulls out a brown envelope and hands it to Cassie, “What is this?”

Keith just nods at the envelope in her hand, “Open it.”

Cassie carefully pulls back the flap and unfolds the papers inside. Her eyes dart back and forth over the writing and then up at Keith, “I don’t know what this is.”

Keith kneels in front of Cassie careful not to invade her space lest she locks herself in her room again. Keith makes sure his voice is soft and that there is no anger over her previous outburst, “Those are adoption papers. Lance and I signed those and had them sent off after the first day we met you. We won’t get tired of you and we won’t send you back ever. You are ours forever.”

Cassie bites her lip and looks back at the papers in her hand. Her voice is barely a whisper and full of doubt and confusion, “Why?”

Keith slowly removes the papers from Cassie’s hands and gently holds her hands in his, “Because I know what it’s like to have a foster family that ignores you when the older brother beats you to a pulp and you have to go to school with a black eye. Because I also know what it’s like when the one thing you want most in the world is a hug from a dad that’s never coming back. And because I know what it’s like when none of the foster families want you because you’re too old, or you wake up screaming at night, and because I know what it's like when you stop crying in front of people because it doesn’t do any good anyway.”

Cassie turns her head away still biting her bottom lip and contemplating everything that Keith has told her. He counts it as a win that she doesn’t immediately pull her hands away. She turns back and even with teary eyes there’s a hardness in the glare she levels at Keith that no ten year old should ever have, “Well, that’s your reasons for keeping me but what about Mr. Lance? Why would he want to keep me?”

Keith smiles, “Are you kidding me? Lance doesn’t need a reason to keep anybody. If I was a kid he would have probably adopted me at some point but instead he married me.”

Cassie finally, finally let out a watery laugh and ducks her head. Keith let her hands go so she could wipe at the tears that fell from her eyes. She sits like that for a few minutes before glancing back up at Keith, “You mean it? It’s forever?”

Keith nods, “I promise, its forever.”

Cassie nods as well, her voice firm and sure, “Okay.”

There’s no dramatic hugging or happy tears, just two orphans coming to an understanding. Keith is happy with that much and decides to let time take care of the rest.

_Four Years Later…._

Lane still has a cataloged list of all things he’s learned about Keith over the years but now it’s almost tripled in size.

  1. Keith took piano lessons at some point in his life. Lance knows this because he saw Keith play the piano with Cassie. He watched one day as Cassie’s eyes light up the minute she spots the elegant Baby Grand Piano in a music store. The owner saw how she kept stealing glances at the piano and asked if she wanted to play. She shakes her head, “I only know one song and it takes two people.”

The owner nods to the piano, “Play what you can, it’s just been collecting dust for years.”

Cassie gingerly sits on the bench and runs her fingers lightly over the keys before playing the familiar tune of “Heart and Soul.” Keith slides next to her and plays the accompanying melody. Needless to say that year Cassie got a piano for Christmas and both her and Keith took up piano lessons.

  1. Keith’s nightmares have all but vanished. Cassie’s are well on the way to disappearing as well.
  2. Keith has once again become a night owl while maintaining his morning person status. With four kids it’s more out of necessity than anything. No matter how much of a routine you have, kids will throw it all out of whack.
  3. Lance thought Keith was always a dog person because of Kosmo. Turns out Keith never had any pets growing up so it comes as a bit of a surprise when Lance finds out Keith is just as much of a cat person as well. Cassie is now fourteen. They have twin boys, Christopher and Charles, or Chris-Chris and Charlie Brown as Cassie has nicknamed them are three years old. And they’ve just finalized adoption on nine month old Carolina. All four kids appear to be cat people as well. They decide to make the trek to the local shelter and search for a cat or kitten that is good with kids. Cassie is adamant that they get a black cat because those are the least adopted cats and that’s just not fair at all. As luck would have it there is a black kitten along with his sibling, an all-white female kitten. It didn’t take much to persuade Keith or Lance that the kittens couldn’t be separated so of course they adopted both.
  4. Keith loves the names that the kids came up with for both cats. The little black male kitten was appropriately named Peanut Butter. The minute anyone picks up Peanut Butter he goes limp and purrs obnoxiously loud. The first time he started purring was when Carolina started scooting around on the floor and managed to grab Peanut Butter and put his tail in her mouth. He was purring so loud that Lance thought someone was cutting grass outside. The white female on the other hand was just as sweet as her brother but a lot more demanding. She would wind herself between feet and follow whoever was nearby yowling at the top of her little kitty lungs until she was shown proper attention. Because she was so high maintenance Keith laughed loudly when Charlie Brown determined that her name was Darth Vader.
  5. Keith keeps everything their kids gives to him. Pictures drawn at school, a rock that Carolina finds in the yard, feathers from an abandoned nest, wildflowers picked in the park, he keeps all of it.

Keith will tell you that being a night owl is more rewarding now than it has ever been. Even when Keith and Lance are up all night for tummy aches, earaches, fevers, teething, and even nightmares. Lance can’t help but agree with him.

**Author's Note:**

> If you're still reading this series thank you so much. I promise I did not forget about Keithtober. I have many more things planned out. Also, if you read any of my other works I have not abandoned those but they will probably be slower to update until Keithtober is done.


End file.
